Tom Petty Widow and Daughters Reportedly End Legal Estate Battle

The legal battle between Tom Petty’s widow and his two daughters has ended, according to the outlet that originally revealed the dispute.

A corporation was set up to manage his estate, with all three women having a say in its management, following Petty’s death in 2017. However, sisters Adria and Annakim Petty alleged that widow Dana York Petty failed to make some “artistic properties” available to the company and cost them $5 million in the process, The Blast originally reported. The situation became the subject to a legal action in April.

New documents obtained by The Blast indicate that widow Dana York Petty and his daughters Adria and Annakim Petty "have settled their issues and will drop lawsuits against each other," a new report says. An updated filing in the case states: "The parties to the foregoing matters have entered into a settlement." Requests for comment from those involved reportedly got no immediate response.

The family dispute apparently blocked the release of a Wildflowers box set in time to coincide with the original album’s 25th anniversary. Dana said she made plans to launch the collection, but that Adria and Annakim – Petty’s daughters from a previous marriage – claimed the time wasn’t right for such a release.

In the legal papers, the sisters alleged that Petty’s will meant that they had an equal say in the management of his estate. Dana claimed in response that the siblings made the management task too difficult and wanted to extend their father’s brand into merchandise lines that were a "sad perversion" of what Tom Petty stood for. She asked a judge to nominate a third party to oversee the day-to-day running of the business.

“[T]here’s so much more in the vault, so much more that we tried to put on this record, that everyone needs to hear," Dana said after the release of posthumous box set An American Treasure in 2018. "I just don’t want them to think we’re greedy, because it’s not about the money – it’s about getting the stuff out there for the world to love.”